We are putting the finishing touches on our Season 1.2 and Season 1.3 DVD sets now. To say we are busy would be an understatement. But when Games Workshop calls, we answer! Ain't nobody too busy for that!

In another surprising and incomprehensible move, Games Workshop has shut down all major Facebook pages and Twitter accounts yesterday. Forge World's FB page is gone. Black Library's FB is gone. Warhammer World's FB page is gone. Comments on their own YouTube videos remain disabled, of course.Rumor has it, that all of the individual GW store pages on Facebook will follow suit. At the time of writing, the ones I sampled are still available, so we'll have to wait and see.

In summary, a company who just had a 12% decline in sales followed by a 25% drop of their share prices decides to shut down their only remaining direct lines for communication with their fan-base.

It's make or break time for GW. I am sure they won't mess this up. Nothing I saw so far would indicate any form of failure.

Sparta? No. This is GW.

Today: No-GW-Bashing inside.

After the glorious rework of the White Dwarf in combination with Warhammer Visions, the shut-down of all (or at least most) Games Days and the general sad headshaking following all of that, it would be too easy to state the obvious: "Go home, Games Workshop, you are drunk! (And even that you are doing wrong)".

I like to turn the Universe upside-down every now and then. And I will do this today.

Let's assume for a moment, we are all crazy and evil and Games Workshop is sane and doing everything right. Like someone listened to a Nerd's Prayer.

Mr T pities the fool whothinks this is a joke!

April 7th, fools! No joke.

What is happening on April 7th?

Well, from April 7th on there are a few changes coming our way regarding Games Workshop.

Forge World products will finally be available in GW stores - it's about time! YAAAY!

And the new Games Workshop Website will go live. (see Faeit 212 et al).

Y'all come back now, you here?

I am not a religious man, but I believe that on April 7th, Forge World, Black Library, Warhammer World and other now missing pages will be back, consolidated in one site to rule them all.

So, what will it be? A glorified store? A reference site with tutorials and reports? A blog? Or - dare I say it... a community site? Maybe all of the above?

Let's think what April 7th could mean for us, if all the sites are combined.

The shop(s)

Combining the FW/BL/GW shops on one site definitely makes sense. I always hated having to go to three sites to order my stuff, paying shipping and handling on two of them.

The current GW website, or rather web-store, is functional and does what it should. I prefer the FW one for it's speed and looks, but I am sure GW will conjure up something nice there. I wish the new store will remember the format of my address without me having to manually type it every time I use it, but maybe that's just me.

In general, I like the idea of blogs. (D'oh!) It is so much better to access information on a blog then to, let's say, find it on FB.

My nerd's prayer would include the desire for a professional blog WITH community interaction.

Community Interaction

Sometimes you reach for the stars. And wanting community interaction from GW seems like a futile request, but then again, there's always hope.

I would like to have open communication channels for the community. But history shows that by shutting down their FB sites and disabling comments on YouTube videos GW might not be that interested in our opinion.

So what do I think GW could do as far as Community Interaction is concerned? No communications? No more Games Days? What gives? After all they have a drop-down menu called 'Community and Events' even today!

Show us your work, so we can sell it to you!

One of the things I liked about the FW page was that fans from all over the world posted their works on FW models there. I found that very inspiring. I think, the new GW site will (continue to) have something along these lines.

Who doesn't feel good about being featured in the 'What's New Today' section on their site? Hell, even I bought a Vision magazine for the guys (not for me of course!), because it featured our and our friends entries from the GD US 2013 on dozens of pages.

But how is GW going to fill the Vision magazine when there are no more GDs? Just recycle studio photos that you saw in the White Dwarf flyers?

Well, you guessed it, YOU send them your pictures! You may not use GW's IP to make money, but they sure don't mind selling you your own works ;) Genius! I would totally by my own works from GW if they published them. Kinda like the Coolminiornot Annuals...

If GW spiced this up with some sort of recognition (a badge, a pin, a medal or whatnot) I would even not frown upon that.

Filtered Forums?

Good ol' days. :P Everything was better. Or was it?

If you are old enough to remember the old GW site, you probably have fond memories of downloadable how-to's, gaming scenarios or modelling tips.

We kinda expect GW not to pay for such nonsense in the future, so why not have the community supply these? That's the way forums work(ed) for the most time. All GW would have to do is to format the files or even provide authors with a template and they would be done.

Not that I think that this is coming our way, though.

My free, yet dangerous wish

Bring SKULLZ back!

Here is a free tip for you, GW. One that will increase your sales immediately, secure your sales in the online world and will pretty much piss off every non-GW store in existance.Do you remember how people at GDs hunted for stickers, buttons and freebies? Yes? Make money with that, dudes!

Reintroduce SKULLZ for web-shop-purchases only. Won't cost you much. Make some worthless trinkets like keychains, bathing caps or towels (especially towels) in exchange for skullz points.

I would buy my 10000th mini from you and put it on the pile of future projects for after when I am dead only to get that towel. I am serious people!

If you implement this, why not send me a 10000 point DKK army courtesy of your shareholders?

Beware of what you wish for!

What would you wish for for the mysterious upcoming April 7th sites? Do you think it will be 'a site to rule them all?'

First we heard about it was through our always well informed buddy at PinsofWar.

After the official GW Facebook page had already been gone for quite a while now, as of today Forgeworld and Black Library are gone as well , both with 46k+ subscribers. Twitter accounts are dead, too. The YouTube account, unfortunately, is still up. If this is following a strategy, I would call it insanity.

On top of that it is said that the local store Facebook pages will also be removed. The German stores are still accessible as of now. We'll see.

So all we have left now are the glorious product teasers that Games Workshop puts on YouTube, I guess. Comments disabled, of course, because every 5 year old with an Internet connection can make better teasers.

There is really not much more to say other than someone seems to be dismantling Games Workshop. From the inside, it seems.

Shutting off 46k fans (!) from their beloved companies is about the dumbest thing I have heard of in recent history. Just when you thought they could not possibly do anything more mindbogglingly stupid, they do.

Or do they?

Maybe, just maybe there is a masterplan. Everything will come back in one glorious site, one glorious page, one to RULE THEM ALL.

Now THAT would be cool.

Maybe some big player is buying them / has bought them already and is preparing the biggest marketing comeback of the millenium.

That would also be cool.

Maybe someone looked at the cost of the community team and said: How much do they make us? What do you mean they make us no money? Cut them off.

Now that is more likely than scenario a or b.

What do you think?

I am dying to know what you think about this? Masterplan? Insanity? Failure?

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Some of you may have watched our epic 2h37m 'Beeble・Babble #2' with Heroes and Villains' Fernando Ruiz Ceano last week. I know Fernando since I met him at the Euromilitaire 2013 in Folkstone and we immediately identified each other as birds-of-a-feather. Two nerds, one mission: Grow the hobby!

I would like to thank all of you for your many messages we have received following the video and I would like to anonymously quote one of them, which, once you read it, will let you understand how that really made my day.

"Hi Fernando & Michael,

Hope you guys are both well! I suddenly realised today that I missed your Beeble-Babble event last Friday, but I found the link and listened to your entire conversation today during my morning and evening painting sessions.

I just wanted to tell you it was very nice to be able to listen to you guys shooting the breeze for 2.5 hours about our beloved hobby, whilst I was sitting doing it.

I was moved and inspired by how you expressed so openly the depth of your passion for what we do (a passion and joy I feel for it but seldom manage to express other than through my work) and how selflessly you are both committed to engaging and helping others without the typical preoccupation with self-gain that one so often encounters in the world outside the hobby. Of course, it was not a total revelation to me that you felt that way since I've had the privilege of meeting and speaking to you both."

- A mysterious stranger

I only can say that it was my privilege to meet this legendary painter at Euromilitaire 2013 again, so the pleasure was all mine.

I spent a total of about 4 hours (probably 4h20) on Skype with Fernando and we had the best time. Both of us are huge Monty Python fans and I can confirm that some of the conversation was slightly silly... In short, Fernando is a hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is.

And now for something completely different:

Awesome new release from H&V: "Spirit of Adventure"

"Spirit of Adventure" by H&V

If you know me for a really, really long time, you know that my first competition miniature was the famous Yarri (by Enigma) which even got me Gold in a small local competition. I was the King of the World for a day or two!

This probably explains why I fell in love with what I call "Yarri's new friend", right away.

Sculpted by Jonatán Monerris, this little Hobbit comes in 54mm scale but, like Yarri, is probably about 30 mm high. It's an absolute beauty and will be a pleasure to paint!

It is fair to say that Masterminis and Paintingbuddha are at least involved in setting two trends in the miniature scene. First of all, there are much more people who openly admit they have a beard now. Beards are socially accepted and have turned into a fashion statement. :D

Secondly, since we proclaimed the "Year of the Miniature" last year and the "Year of the Pirate" for 2014, we see a lot of other Blogs starting their own 'Year of the <insert here>'. We think it's great that people dedicate their year to a certain aspects of the hobby. If you cross the spirit and ruthless efficiency of true pirates with our motto 'Share & Enjoy' then we can only support that. As the eccentric writer Charles Caleb Colton once said: "Imitation is the highest form of flattery", so who are we to complain about it ;) more power to you!

Jonatán Monerris,Sculptor of the "Spirit of Adventure"

In the last couple of weeks a lot of people have asked us about which software we use, which equipment we have, what our 'little secrets' are and so on. As much as we could we answer all these questions. We promised full transparency of what we do and so you can trust that, when we say "Share & Enjoy" - we mean it! We are so thankful that others are inspired by what we do.Your "Year of the <win>"

So we challenge you to proclaim your own personal "Year of the <whatever>" in the comments below. Tell us WHY this year is THE year for you and your hobby! And win the Bruddha of the Coast, Tortuga, 1668 (image above) - sponsored by Fernando Ruiz of Heroes & Villains!

Workshop with Fernando Ruiz

Blumberg, Germany; June 20-22nd, 2014

Fernando is widely recognized as one of the 'great' painters. His workshops have taken him all over the world from locations in Europe to Brazil, and the US.

And on June 20th-22nd you can join him for one of his rare workshops in Germany. Blumberg is not that far from the Swiss/Austrian border, so if you are interested check the reservation list (English) on the German Bemalforum.

All the details about the workshop can be found in the above link.

Disclaimer: We are in no way shape or form paid for this. Fernando is just a hoopy frood who we think deserves our support.

Now if YOU think we could use a little support, too, then why not check this out: Season 1.2 (Freehands & Banners with Stephan Rath) and Season 1.3 (Base Alchemy Volume 1: Earth - with Ben Komets & Matt Cexwish) are almost ready for release! Check our 'Early BEARD Specials', pre-order and save some money!

Oh, and we will announce our STRETCH GOALS for pre-orders next week. Just so much: The sooner™ you pre-order, the better!

Captain Julien of the GBS Lovecraft's Sumptuous Madness made a prompt splash appearance as he assembled his Bable Fishes, loaded the B.R.I.E. (Brane Rupturing Ion Emitter) cannon - one of the cheesiest weapons in the Universe - and buttered up the Infinite Improbability Drive, which unfortunately is quite frequently jammed.

Their battleship is unique in the known Universe as it is the only one to entirely fail at not looking completely unlike something that is not a Croissant.

Right before the Polish GBS Kosmojajo Jeden got ready to jump to their next mission beyond Hyperspace, the GBS Sumptuous Madness vanished in a puff of logic. They had successfully accomplished the first Mission before anyone else, earning both their ship, her Captain and his crew valuable bonus points for promotion! One Mission down, four to go. Mondieu!

Defenders of the Crown

Startled by the French crew, the Polish GBS Kosmojajo Jeden and the Swedish Royal Ship GBS The Crown IV under Captain Skellie hovered weightlessly side-by-side. Which captain would press the button labeled "Do not press this button!" first?

Nobody expected The Spanish Armada to launched the GBS La Pinta, La Nina y La Santamaria under Captain Volomir, followed by the GBS Italian Avengers under Captain Alessandro. Just in time to show Captain Peter of the GBS Komondore and Captain Gert of the GBS Gouden eend' their taillights.

Admiral Beeblebrox is still under the impression that the Galactic Battleship The Crown IV is flying backwards, but chief mechanic Badsmile of the PMS Heart of Gold said that it's supposed to be like that.

Both Russia and Portugal could not decide on a name for their respective Galactic Battleships yet. That could possibly earn them an additional 10 out of 10 for style, but potentially minus several million for not officially pressing the launch button. Insiders claim that they will suddenly appear in the middle of Mission 3 or 4 and no-one will have seen them coming! Maybe the name-change-deed got lost in the vastness of Space.

Heavy Metal in Space

The mostly deaf Captain Mikkel of the GBS Maximum Oversatan is known throught the sector for his heavy metal battle suit and for the dozens of screaming groupies showing up wherever he lands. He messaged Admiral Beeblebrox that he had to delay his launch as he claimed that it was vital for his mission to replace all torpedos with barrels of beer. 42 metric tons of it, to be exact. Well, he's the Captain, and as we all know, the Captain knows best!

All of the Captains, as different as they may be, are confident that they will successfully solve all five Missions and reach the fabled planet 'Magrathea 42' in the end. And the first ship to get there will earn massive bonus points for promotion and titles. Until now, the Captains and their crews did not know that.

5 questions for all of you

We need the titles for 5 ranks. The titles we need are for the following ranks: